Downtown Hartford Businesses Sending Cash, Supplies To Iowa

An estimated $4,000 in cash and 20 large boxes of food and relief supplies will be heading to residents of Des Moines, Iowa, next week, courtesy of tenants in two downtown Hartford office buildings.

The outreach by tenants of the Gold Building and Constitution Plaza is one of many efforts by Connecticut businesses to help colleagues and strangers in the flood-stricken Midwest.

The downtown collection was organized by Servus Management Corp., which manages the Gold Building and Constitution Plaza. Servus started the drive to help the Principal Group, a corporate associate based in Des Moines, which holds a mortgage on the Gold Building.

"You see all the devastation on TV and everything that's happening," said Joseph Ciccaglione, chief operating officer of Servus. "You want to help but you don't know how. We just thought it made it easy for people to get together and help." Joining Servus on the relief-effort committee were several building tenants, including Arthur Andersen & Co., Fleet Bank, People's Bank, Price Waterhouse, and WTIC radio.

United Technologies Corp., a major Gold Building tenant, joined the relief drive as well, and is also coordinating a fund-raising effort among its corporate staff and several divisions.

UTC's Otis Elevator division lost its Des Moines office to about 8 feet of water and is working out of temporary offices, said spokesman Dan Elman.

UTC's Carrier Corp. division has plants, sales offices and employees in the Midwest, including Des Moines.

Separately, 3,600 gallons of drinking water donated by employees of Hartford-based Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co. will be shipped to Des Moines Monday in a truck donated by Nationwide Moving & Storage.

And the Mountain Spring Water Co. of Meriden has sent a truckload of 3,200 gallons of drinking water to Des Moines, and another is destined for St. Joseph, Mo.

Meanwhile, Fleet Bank said Friday it would forgive MasterCard and Visa interest and defer payment due dates for 30 days for some 12,000 customers in states affected by the floods.

Earlier, Bridgeport-based People's Bank said it would allow credit card customers affected by flooding in an eight-state region to skip their August/September payment without being assessed late charges. It also set up a toll-free line that cash-strapped flood victims can call to discuss temporary extension of their credit lines.

ITT Hartford Insurance Group has temporarily suspended billing to its automobile, homeowners and business insurance customers in areas hit by the flooding.

Connecticut residents continue to channel contributions to the Midwest through local charities, as well.

The local division of the Salvation Army estimates that some $1.2 million worth of relief supplies donated by Connecticut residents and companies arrived in the Midwest or are on the way, and collection will continue at Bob's Stores until Aug. 6, said Lisa Goepfert-Forbush, an emergency services associate.

Cash donations have tallied more than $100,000, with $2,500 raised in one day during a WPLR radio collection, she said.

Donations through the Greater Hartford Chapter of the American Red Cross have amounted to about $95,000.

Putnam trucking operator Dick Trayner, who organizes disaster relief efforts and delivered more than 100 truckloads of supplies to Hurricane Andrew victims, has already completed the sixth shipment to the Midwest, including the Salvation Army collections.

Lynn Perry, Trayner's assistant, said her boss decided to ship the items to smaller cities near disaster relief centers or Salvation Army distribution centers so that the goods could be distributed immediately.

"It's the small towns that have to wait the longest," Perry said. "And they are the hardest to get to."

Courant staff writers Dee Segel and Stacy Wong contributed to this story